League Constitution
I. League Overview
Commissioners: Jeff Rynott and Shawn Crull
Software: DMB Version 9a
Season Length: 162 Games, beginning on the first day of the MLB season
American League: 8 teams, 2 divisions of 4 teams each, DH in use
National League: 8 teams, 2 divisions of 4 teams each, no DH
Interleague play: No
Injuries: Yes
Weather Effects: No
Split effects: Yes
Parks: Owners must keep their parks for a year at a time and cannot change from the time of the draft until the conclusion of the World Series. Between the World Series and the Draft an owner can exchange his park for any other park not currently in use by another team or can attempt to trade his park to another owner.
Eras: The latest league-appropriate era on the DMB player disk will be used; for the 2006 season, 2005 N will be used for the National League and 2005 A will be used for the American league.
Regular season: All games will be simulated by the Commisioner using the MPs submitted by owners.
Simulation schedule: Games will be simulated Monday to Friday of each week, with Sunday/Monday games being played Monday and Friday/Saturday games being played Friday. In the event that the Commissioner needs to change this schedule for vacation, work or other non-league reasons, he will notify the league in advance whenever possible and will try to get all simulations for the week done in advance of week's end.
Results schedule: Results and statistics will be posted to the website daily by Commissioner Rynott. When he is unable to do so, he will notify the league in advance whenever possible. New league files will be e-mailed to league members each Friday.
Roster changes: MPs may be submitted to Commissioner Crull each weekend between the time Commissioner Rynott has sent out the updated league file on Friday until Sunday at 6 PM CST. All MPs must have 25 active players, 5 man strict rotations, and lineups vs LHP and vs RHP filled out. Owners will be notified of invalid MPs and will have to fix them and resubmit them.
II. Rosters
Size: 40 players from Draft Day to two weeks prior to the next draft, at which time all roster cuts will be due.
Keepers: 25 players will be retained two weeks prior to a draft and the rest must be released for the league draft. Owners with fewer than 25 due to trades will be awarded an additional draft pick for each player below 25. These draft picks will be added on after the 40th round of the draft.
Roster qualifications: Any player appearing on the DMB player disk that will be used in that year's simulations is eligible to be drafted/kept on a league roster. If a player was on a league roster in the previous season, but does not appear on the DMB player disk for the current season, that player can still be listed as a keeper at the owner's discretion.
Active roster qualification: Any batter with 100 or more at bats (AB) is eligible to be on an active roster. Any pitcher with 30 or more innings pitched (IP) is eligible to be on an active roster. Only 25 players can be active. Starting pitchers can only make 35 starts per season. There are no further breakdowns - if a player is eligible to be on the active roster, there is no limit on the number of games that player can appear in other than the limits in Position Requirements below.
Reserve roster qualifications: Any player who appears on the DMB player disk is eligible to be part of a team's 15 reserves, even if he cannot appear on the active roster.
Position requirements: Players can only play at positions at which they are listed as having a DMB defensive rating. The same rule holds for pitchers: pitchers with starting and relieving ratings can do both, while all others must stay in the roles for which they were assigned ratings.
Roster breakdowns: All teams will be required to carry at least one player at every defensive position, two catchers, two players with shortstop ratings, and five starting pitchers.
Player Movement
Trades: Players can be traded at any point in the season or offseason except for a gap between midnight EST August 1 of a given season and the conclusion of the playoffs for that season.
Free Agent Signings: Each team is allowed to make 5 free agent pickups per season between the end of the draft and the August 1 trading deadling. Only players with 100+ AB and 30+ IP are eligible to be selected as free agents. Please use the League Guestbook on the Free Agent Moves page to make a Free Agent Request. Use "BIBL FA Pickup" in the title and list both the player being claimed and the player being released to make room. Free agent requests must be made prior to 6 PM CST on Friday evenings, after which the claims for the week will be posted. If multiple teams claim a free agent in the same week, the free agent will be awarded to the team that had the lower record at the conclusion of the Friday sims (in game play time, that will mean the lower record at the end of the Saturday games).
Roster moves: Once a trade is made, both parties must e-mail the Commissioners that they agree to the deal and a notification will be made on the league's Transactions page. The Commissioner will send out a new league file that includes the trade, after which the owners involved can send their new MPs based on the new league file. Trade roster changes will only be made on Fridays as part of the new league disk, so owners will have to wait for the new league disk to make such changes over the weekend.
Draft picks: Only picks for the draft following the current season may be traded. For example, for the 2006 draft, 2006 draft picks can be traded, then during the season 2007 draft picks can be traded. After the 2007 draft is completed, then 2008 draft picks can be traded. Any team short on draft picks as a result of trades will have additional draft picks given to them after the 40th round of the ensuing draft until they draft a full 40 man roster.
Roster limits: No team may have more than 40 players at any time. If a team has more than 40 players due to a trade, the owner must also submit the player(s) he wants to cut. During a draft, the draft will end for each team once they reach 40 players, so if the owner acquired extra draft picks prior to the 40th round, his draft will end when he reaches 40 players.
Postseason
Participants: The division winners in each league will automatically get playoff berths and home field advantage. The next two best records regardless of division in each league will qualify as wildcards.
Format: Each playoff series will be a best of 7 following a 2-3-2 format. There will be 5 off days before each series (to let rotations rest so each can start with their ace) and an off day before each change of venue. This creates 3 rounds: Wildcard Round, League Championship Round, and Presser Cup. In each round, teams with the better records will have the home field advantage, with the exception that a wildcard cannot have a home field advantage over a division winner.
Roster requirements: Teams must specify 4 man strict rotations, but can opt to use fewer starters if the owner wants to disregard the DMB penalties given to tired pitchers. Games played in AL parks will use the DH and those in NL parks will not.
Drafts
Draft order: Teams will draft in inverse order of finish, worst record to BIBL champion. In case of a tie for draft position or playoff position, the first tiebreaker will be divisional record, followed by record against the other league division, run differential (runs scored - runs allowed), and finally a coin flip by one of the Commissioners.
Time: Drafts will take place between March 1 and March 31 of each year based on owner availability, no later than March 31.
Location: Drafts will be online in the league chat room. Every effort will be made to pick a March weekend convienient for the majority of owners. Owners can have other owners make picks for them if both owners agree and notify the Commissioners via e-mail prior to 6 PM CST the night before the draft, or they can submit lists to the Commissioners via e-mail prior to 6 PM CST the night before the draft. If the owner is absent from the draft and no list has been received and no other owner is picking in his absence, the DMB computer manager will be used to Autoselect the owner's picks.
bravenet.com